SoloPower pledged to create hundreds of jobs in Oregon two years ago, when unemployment here topped 9 percent and manufacturers were reeling.

It tapped millions in incentives on that promise, including a state tax credit that will net it $13.5 million in cash and leave Oregon's general fund out another $6.5 million. But according to documents obtained Thursday by The Oregonian, the deal requires only a fraction of those projected jobs.

The performance agreement released by the state's economic development arm details, for the first time, two key employment benchmarks tied to the California-based solar panel maker's manufacturing Business Energy Tax Credit. The company, at a minimum, agreed to "create and maintain" 140 full-time equivalent jobs. But Business Oregon redacted the deadline for meeting that mark, as well as all future employment mandates. The agency typically does not spell out specifics, citing trade secrets.

In 2012, as SoloPower built out its first North Portland production line, it needed only three dozen full-time jobs to comply with year one of the deal, which runs through 2016.

The minimum eventually caps out at 140 -- not the 450 publicly projected in 2011 -- a benchmark SoloPower is not positioned to meet anytime soon.

The company issued a statement Thursday, in response to The Oregonian, confirming it was cutting jobs and slashing costs as it "transitions from an R&D focus to commercial manufacturing and sales." It did not detail the scope or location of the layoffs, which arrive as SoloPower comes under mounting scrutiny.

Lawmakers in Salem, meanwhile, are considering whether to extend the manufacturing BETC program that helped attract it to Oregon.

The controversial tax credits helped build the state's green manufacturing industry, allowing four solar companies -- SoloPower, SolarWorld, MEMC Electronic Materials Inc. and Sanyo Solar -- to cash millions through the program. The credits are designed to pay as much as 50 percent of capital investment costs, up to $40 million. A pass-through option allows the businesses to sell the credits to other taxpayers at a discount.

Supporters bill the credits, set to expire next year, as a success because those companies remain in operation today. But opponents say the program's payoff is difficult to gauge, in part because credits are tied to benchmarks that remain largely undefined and are exempt from public disclosure.

"All four of those companies have met the job requirements consistently," Tim McCabe, who directs Business Oregon, which oversees program, said during a recent interview. "It's meant hundreds of jobs in the recession."

During a Feb. 21 hearing in Salem, he said the solar industry employed 1900, fueling $12 million in income taxes back to the state.

Two similar House bills seek to extend the manufacturing BETC -- one that would push the credits through 2018 and another aiming for a 2020 expiration. On Tuesday, the House Energy, Environment and Water Committee moved the latter measure, HB 2472, on to the Joint Tax Credit Committee. The Senate environment committee has also held public hearings on a similar bill.

In September, SoloPower said it employed 60 in Portland. It originally planned to launch production in spring 2012, with an initial workforce of 140.

The performance agreement tied to the deal, which The Oregonian obtained through a records request, took effect January 2012, meaning SoloPower must comply with the terms through December 2016.

The job totals outlined in documents released Thursday are tallied through production hours, with 1,820 counted as full time job. In its first year, it needed to match 71,283 hours, or about 39 jobs. But a clause allows the solar panel startup to hit 90 percent of that total and remain in compliance within any one year of the agreement, though it must eventually meet the 100 percent mark. If it fails to meet those marks, it must repay the state based on a formula tied to employment.

News of this week's layoffs hasn't prompted Business Oregon to ask for more information from SoloPower, said Nathan Buehler, an agency spokesperson. The company has until the end of the year to fulfill its annual requirement. "We are certainly interested in exactly what this mean s for Oregon," he said.

SoloPower's new executive chairman Paolo Pietrogrande said in a written statement that the company is evolving to "best suit our current ramp-up timeline and stay ahead of market conditions."

Efforts to reach Pietrogrande were unsuccessful. Staff at Element Power, also backed by SoloPower's main private investor, said he no longer operated from its downtown Portland offices, having moved to Italy in December.

This week's reorganization announcement prompted the Oregon Department of Energy, which is overseeing a $10 million loan, to ask for an update, spokesperson Diana Enright said. A meeting hasn't yet been set to discuss the project, she added, noting that SoloPower has not missed any loan payments.